eBay Drama

Ahhh. Sunday again.

This past week I logged onto ebay and found that a seller I had left neutral feedback for was contacting me to complain.

I purchased the little tykes tunnel and paid immediately. I paid $25 for shipping. A week after I paid, the item hadn't shipped yet. When I contacted the seller, she didn't respond. I contacted her twice via myeBay, and once via email. I was just getting online to get her phone number when I saw that she had finally responded. She told me that she was having problems "finding a way to ship the item because of it's bulk." Unfortunately, she was selling MANY other bulky little tyke type items, and was shipping them, and had been for what looked like years. She also had two other negative or neutral feedbacks from other members who had the same problem with her. She had either backed out of the transaction stating that she couldn't ship (after she said that she could in the listing) or she had held their items and not shipped in a timely manner.

So she told me that she would be shipping on a particular day, and that she would provide me with tracking information. I waited. That day came and went. No tracking information. This was when I was still working, and I was very concerned that this big item, which was nearly $100 after shipping, would be left outside of my house and would either be rained on or stolen before I could get home. I was worried that she wouldn't ship or that she was taking my money. I asked for tracking information from her again, and never heard back. When the item did arrive, the actual shipping only cost her $21 and the time it took to get from her to me was just 4 days... but it had taken two weeks to receive after I paid.

I was frustrated by her lack of communication, by her promising shipment by a certain date and then not shipping on time, and by her overcharging me on shipping. I wouldn't have minded a few extra dollars on shipping had she gotten it to me on time, but it's even more frustrating to pay that much and then not receive it for two weeks. If you are going to repeatedly sell large items and advertise that you will ship them, I would expect that you would have checked shipping costs and venues before you list the item and make that promise. And if you feel that the item needs to be disassembled (mine was not) then you should probably be sure you can disassemble it without damaging it BEFORE you tell the buyer that you will ship, tell them how much it will cost to ship, AND take their payment.

Instead of immediately leaving feedback, I decided to mull it over. In the end I decided to leave her neutral (not negative) feedback, about a month after the transaction. Immediately she thought that NOW it was okay to contact me in a timely manner and ask why I left her neutral feedback and why I didn't contact her to let her know I was unhappy.

Hello, just a note to ask you why you did not contact me to let me know you were dissatisfied with the transaction, I try to respond to all emails in a timely matter and before this neutral feedback I had a perfect 100%, I would have refunded or partially refunded your shipping charges, are you sure your remembering the right transaction as its been quite a while, please email me back and let me know how I can make this right. Thanks

This also frustrated me because it seemed like once her reputation was on the line, suddenly she was all about customer service. I explained to her why I was unhappy and that I felt it was my duty to leave this feedback so that other buyers knew what to expect from her. Since she primarily sells large items, and has, at least three times, refused to ship or complained that she couldn't ship the item, then I can see a pattern here.

So I let her know exactly why I was upset about the transaction:

I am sorry but I thought that you understood when the transaction took place that the shipping took too long. I remember it distinctly because I not only emailed you but sent you two myEbay messages also. I didn't hear from you for almost a week after paying. I was ready to look up your telephone number- but then you emailed and told me that you were having problems finding a way to ship the item because of it's bulk and that it would ship a particular day, and it shipped almost 4 days later. It was extremely frustrating to buy such an expensive item and be worried that it wasn't going to get here at all. I didn't receive it for two weeks after I paid but the actual shipping only took 4 days. You promised a tracking number and never send it. I had seen your previous two customers who were dissatisfied when you held an item and when you refused to ship another item that was listed as shippable, and I assumed that this was an ongoing issue for you as a seller. I felt others should know.

So below is the email that I got back from her, after telling her why I was upset. I have to admit that it really made me chuckle. Every time someone on ebay screws you over, it inevitably comes out that someone was sick, had surgery, or something. I understand that life happens, but if true customer service and satisfaction is your goal, and you make a mistake or have extenuating circumstances, then you should take care of those right away and make sure the customer is happy and taken care of. And if you've been selling on ebay for two years, and you haven't figured that out yet, then yes, you probably need some neutral feedback here and there.

I am a mom selling kids toys on ebay, my own and those that I find at resale shops, garage sales, etc., I do this as a supplement to our income as I have a daughter with special needs that requires me to stay home and thats not to try to get the sympathy vote. I am not an expert shipper yet, I do my best, sometimes I sell an item that proves a problem such as disassembleing that item might have caused damage to the toy which I do believe I emailed you about, I do my best to ship it as timely as possible, if something proves a problem I usually email and offer a full refund or shipping fee , a discount, I have never left anyone bad feedback, I would try to speak of my dissatisfaction first to that seller. I am so glad you are here protecting fellow ebayers from such unscrupulous sellers as myself. I will try to rectify my ongoing issue ( more than 2 yrs ago, and at the start of my selling.) and hopefully be the perfect ebayer you seem to be. Good day.

So I responded

Don't waste your time yelling at me. I don't really want to hear about it. I am a WAHM too. Sorry to hear of your difficulties and I wish you luck in the future.

I hope she figures this out. LOL. And just for the record, she didn't try to "make it right" and refund a shipping fee, or give me a discount, as she mentioned that she wanted to do in her very first email. Empty promises. LOL. And I was also pretty frustrated that she said those feedbacks were "over two years ago" because last time I checked, August of 2007 isn't even one full year ago. She must have her time mixed up. He.

Must Stop eBaying....

Whew! I got online too much last night and tonight! LOL. I did win the bouncy seat in EUC, retails for about $49 and I bought it for $9.99- and I bought a white quilt rack (floor standing) for $5. I wanted one to put in the nursery to hold the quilt that matches the crib bedding, and the other big blankies and another quilt that I have for the room.

I also found some Milk Tracker Organizers on ebay and two of them on eBay are less than 1/4 the price of one organizer at Target. We will see if they go much higher.

And I won the maya baby sling. I am so excited to get it, I will probably put a stuffed animal in it and practice all the time.

Tonight I went to a Lia Sophia Jewelry open house. It was fun. Purchase any three items and your MOST expensive Item is half price. You don't hear that very often. I had some great snacks and chocolate cake, and I got a pretty bracelet for free for placing an order. So it was a successful night.

I tell you what though, I am so sick of not being able to breathe! My pregnant nose is seriously stuffy, but it's like in the back of my nose and runs down my throat. I blow and blow my nose and wear breathe right strips each night.... but it's driving me CRAZY! How will I make it months longer having this much trouble breathing! Ack!

eBay Newbies SUCK

and ANOTHER Thing! I keep getting outbid on ebay by newbies who sit there as the auction is ending and bid fifteen times in 2 cent increments until they beat me by one penny. it's a good thing eBay keeps identities secret because I would hunt them down in person and do something I can't say on here. That is so frustrating and annoying. There should be an ebay law about it. When I go on to an action that had 2 or 4 bids and at the end there are 18 bids and 13 of them are all the same person bidding 50 cents at a time, I want to hurt them.

A Few More Wares....

Got an ISIS IQ Uno Breastpump on ebay, New in Box. It retails for $149 and I got it for $65! I also am wearing a new maternity shirt today, it's gray with black satin collar and cuffs, and says "bebe" in rhinestones. I also got a big lot of avent bottles and nipples and a microwaveable steam sterilizer on eBay for dirt cheap!

Bitch-Ass Bidders

Hi there! Sorry I haven't written much, but we are in that sucky week between Christmas and New Year's where work is slow, people are cranky, and everyone would rather be taking a nap.

It's all I can't do to keep on truckin. Without eBay, I am sure I would be asleep right now. I have some serious auctions going on right now, lots ending this evening...

Today I got in a bidding frenzy with this bitch who decided last night to bid against me. And I don't mean "I'll just make one bid and see what happens" I mean the "I will bid 15 times, increasing my bid by $1.00 each time, until I beat her by on penny" kind of bitch-ass bidding. MAN does that piss me off! So an auction that could have had TWO bids ended up having 15 bids and 11 of them were put on in the last ONE MINUTE of the auction. Yeah. Annoying. But guess what? I won! Mwuuahahahahahahaa! In the end I paid $35 for a shirt that I wanted to pay no more than $25 for, but when you bitch-ass bid against me, you are pissing me off to the extent of "I will keep bidding till I win because I hate your tactics."

So what else is new? Hmmm.... oh yeah. This morning I thought of something to blog about and I was ready to go and then I forgot about it by the time I was able to blog. See now, if I didn't have a day job, I wouldn't have to worry about holding all those blog-a-riffic thoughts over until I got home at night... right?

Maybe it will come back to me....

Bidding Fanatic

Well, I do love me some ebay. I have been in desperate need of some clothes. Mine are either too big or wearing out. I did recently buy a new pair of dress pants at Old Navy, and a new pair of jeans, and a denim blazer at Fashion Bug. The jeans are my favorites and the only ones I wear. I should have bought two pair! I love to wear the blazer on the weekend with the jeans, over a t-shirt or whatever... it's just right for cool fall weather.

I recently have been trolling eBay for Torrid items. I love torrid's skirts. They fit me PERFECTLY and they are wonderful . I have one at home and now I have three more on the way. I have bought them all used and save a bundle of cash. I also bought dirt cheap d-ring motorcycle boots, and cheap red cowboy boots, but they are funky, not true pointed toe ones. And I am waiting on my "pretty woman dress" but mine is black with white polka dots. I have been seeing some cool t-shirts on there, I just bought this one that says "Pirate love" and am bidding on one that says "Meet the Twins".... and also bid on "I love Dirty Rocker Boys" because I think it's cute, especially since husband is a musician and guitarist. I saw one that said "I'm a sucker for guys in eyeliner" but I figured it would be taken as more of a punk or goth way than in a "wow Johnny Depp is the hottest pirate ever" kind of way. So, I dunno. Maybe if I put a jolly roger patch on it. Hmmm.... go crafty brain go! But the one I really want, but it's wayyy pricey, is very vintage looking and says "camp Jenna" A summer of pitching tents and pillow fights. I love love love Jenna. Of course then there are the black and white funky pinstriped pants, and the black torrid skirt with pink tulle underneath. And the black torrid skirt with pink piping. AND the one that I will CRY If I don't win, the red skirt with black polka dots and black trim. I MUST Have that one.

So. That said. An example of whay I need new clothes? For so long, all of my pants and skirts have been so big that I can and do pull them off and on without ever unbuttoning or zipping them. This is convenient and comfortable, but not necessarily the best fit as far as attractiveness goes, or as good of a situation when your drawers are always falling down. So I have three new pair of pants, and whenever I wear the 2 pair of dress pants to work, I FORGET TO ZIP THEM. Yeah. Like first thing in the morning AND after potty breaks. Pants. Unzipped. Fly Open. Pink or Purple or Red or Black Underwear on display. Yeah. I have done that three times this week. Jeez. So I need to once again be trained on how to properly dress myself when I actually have to unbutton and zip my pants. Isn't that sad and scary? Of course maybe if I had more than .5 seconds to take a pee at work, it would be helpful.

I have recently began to use the ebay SMS alert system, where I can sign up (by the item) to have a text message sent to my cell phone when I am outbid, and then I can bid again right from my cell phone. Excessive? Well, lately I have had so many BITCHES outbid me by 1 penny at the last minute. You know the ones. Like My max bid is $20, and the current price is $15.00 - so they bid $15.50, then $16.00, then $16.50, all the way up until they bid like $20.50 and just barely outbid me at the end of the auction. When I go to see what happened, there are like 54 bids since mine and it's all one jackass bidding 3 cents at a time until they have bid more than me. SonsaBitches. One thing I have found, I am so agressive and catty, that even if I said I would NEVER spend more than $20 on that item, if some bitch like that comes along, I will pay $40 just in spite, to outbid her. Damn straight. Don't screw with me.

Boots for Sale

Check my ebay listings to see two pair of heeled boots that I have for sale. Just in case anyone is interested....

Red Heeled Boots- Calf Length
Black Heeled Boots- Knee Length

Dirty Whores wear Stripey Socks!

Tuesday. My "calling cards" arrived today. Haven't handed any out yet. Sad sad sad. Need to see some friends. Or meet some new people.

My legwarmers came last night. They are super cute, even though I am not a japanese chick with tiny feet. I tried them on with about 4 pair of shoes. I danced around. I laid in bed. They were fun. Not sure if and when I will wear them in public, but they are so cute!

You know what someone said to me the other day? Wow. Someone who has no room to talk, said (because I had striped socks on under my jeans with my mary janes) "Oh, so now that you got married you are a whore now?" Um. Okay. So now people who wear striped socks are whores? Wow. Guess I missed that memo.

Looking back, I guess that the fact that she has only known me for 4 years, and she has only known the "follow the work dresscode and do what the boss says" Meagan - when really the outside of work Meagan is as individual as you can get. But she doesn't know that?

I am as "I don't give a shit what you think" as I can be and still be polite and employeable.... and really I have worn stripey socks for so many years, it isn't even funny.... but since this person just saw them on me for the first time, and since I got married last year, apparently she coordinated that with "you just got married and turned into a whore."

What in the HELL is up with that? I wanted so badly to respond with "No, I've always been a whore." What the Fuck? So, all you stripey sock whores out there... watch your back.

I thought to myself.... wow. good thing I didn't wear my pirate mary janes to work. Good thing she has never seen my HNT posts. I am SUCH a dirty dirty whore (let's see how many google hits we can get on this post, shall we?)

She's really not gonna like when my red boots arrive or when I get my knee high argyle socks. And she's probably gonna hate me if I win those three schoolgirl skirts, or those black boots I have wanted for like 12 years and am finally bidding on. Yep, those will really make me a whore!

You know, everytime I get something funky and cute and young, my husband loves it. I get the ass grabbing, cop a feel hello's when he sees me, and It feels great to be recognized. I like to look good. What husband wouldn't want his wife to look good? And THAT makes me a whore too I suppose? LOL. People need to pay close attention to the meaning of whore. Really.

And even if I looked like a Harijuku girl from head to toe, that doesn't make me a whore. Whores sleep around, and last I checked, whores aren't known worldwide for their fashion sense.

Don't Piss off a Pirate!

Wearing: SeXy Red Babydoll shirt with a Ruched Bust and 3/4 sleeves, black dress pants, black heeled loafers, red beaded earrings, black and red headband.
Watching: The New Adventures of Old Christine

Today was a hard day. I worked hard. I crawled around on the floor, under desks, moving PC's. I moved 8 computers complete with all accessories, and one laser printer. Whew. Tired.

Tonight Evan and I cleared of two tables in my sewing room and took the legs off. Then we carried them to the garage so that someone could pick them up tomorrow morning. Selling them back to the "employer" that I bought them from. Long story. Translates into a lot of work on our end.

Last night I watched the newest episode of Men in Trees, and then Desperate Housewives. I have to tell you, that I am more excited and entertained by Men in Trees than I am by Desperate Housewives these days. I love Men in Trees. And when Jack fought his own brother over Marin, I was like "yes!"

It rained today, which I was actually quite okay with. It was kind of fitting. This weekend Evan and I are going to carve pumpkins over at mom's and order pizza for supper. Mom bought me Pirates of the Carribbean pumpkin carving patterns. There is a Captain Jack pattern and also a pirate ship. I can not wait. She almost bought me a big jolly roger pirate flad to fly out front on Halloween, to go with my costume. I think I forgot to mention that my costume arrived, and it was too small (too short, I am tall and my ass hung out {literally}) and the dagger was broken in half. So I tried to contact the eBay seller, and of course, they ignored me.

First time I have ever had a problem buying on eBay, and it wasn't really a huge one. But I am out $45.00 (not counting shipping, which you eat) and I did open a paypal dispute. The seller responded to paypal (even though they ignored two emails from me) by saying that I might have broken the dagger myself and that they had other people satisfied with the item. And of course I didn't pay for insurance, but I have learned from experience that filing an insurance claim with the US Postal Service is worse than filing your taxes, and you almost never get through it. So I only buy insurance on expensive items, like a computer. And why would I purchase insurance on a costume, that isn't breakable. The dagger cost like $1 at a dollar store (it was really cheap) so I wouldn't even begin to go through a paypal claim AND pay return shipping on a costume that I need, if I broke a dollar store dagger?

So now I wait for Paypal to make their decision. Today when I went to the seller's feedback, I see that they *suddenly* have 3 "neutral" feedbacks all added to their account today. And the way the seller responds to the feedback, NOT GOOD. The seller turns around and slanders the buyer on their own profile, and leaving slanderous feedback for another ebay member as a way to get back at them for their feedback is a big ebay no no. Not to mention petty and ridiculous. One of the neutral feedbacks they received said "Item too small and short to wear" and I was like BAM! Aha! So I am not the only one. And I hope that the paypal mediator sees that.

So I did get another costume ordered, the one that I wanted to order in the beginning but obviously screwed up and ordered one that I was skeptical about. So, now I wait for the second costume to arrive. And my pirate hat and stripey socks sit calmly and wait for the rest. And of course since I bought my costume back at the end of August, I have found two more people in Wyanet who are going to be Pirate Wench's, and it makes me cranky.

Keep your fingers crossed that this pirate costume arrives swiftly and fits perfectly!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Well, earlier I posted about how much I wanted this pottery barn halloween calendar. When we were kids we had a felt halloween hanging and this reminds me of it. When I first saw it on the PBK website and it was $64.00 - I tried to talk myself out of it, but I just WANTED it. So when I finally decided that I was going to just get it, I went to the website and they were SOLD OUT. Then I jumped on eBay and there were like TWELVE of them for sale. Mostly by one or two people who apparently are the reason that they SOLD OUT. Bastards. But they were going for $85-$100 per calendar! That's INSANITY! So I kept watching and as the days went by, and they listed more and more, I got one for $65.00 - just $1 more than the catalog price. ha HA! Take that people who bought them all so that folks like me couldn't get one!

So now, I am happy.